


Always A Child

by sofreakinmanyfandoms



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alien Technology, Ceiling Vent Clint Barton, Child Tony Stark, Don't copy to another site, F/M, Inappropriate Safety Measures, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) is a Good Bro, Marvel Trumps Hate 2018, Never Let Clint and Steve Babysit, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-10 08:11:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20524793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sofreakinmanyfandoms/pseuds/sofreakinmanyfandoms
Summary: An expanded version of one of sofreakinmanyfandoms's NaNo2k18 one-shots: When Tony accidentally exposes himself to an alien gas, you end up with a much smaller version of your boyfriend on your hands.





	Always A Child

**Author's Note:**

> Written by sofreakinmanyfandoms and beta'd by deathsweetqueen (who has a much better grasp on proper comma usage than I do - sfmf) for the Marvel Trumps Hate 2018 auction.

“Stop acting like a child, Tony. I’m busy.”

“But Y/N,” your boyfriend whined, tipping over and letting his head crash into your shoulder, “I’m so _bored_. JARVIS won’t let me into my lab.”

“If I may remind you, Sir,” the AI cut in, “the artifact you left in there is still letting off a strange smoke-like substance and the ventilation system in place for similar emergencies has not been able to remove all of it because it is out in the open. Allowing you to access your lab would go against every safety protocol you programmed for me.”

“My mistake,” Tony grumbled, rubbing his face into your neck in a manner not entirely unlike a cat. “Stupid safety protocols. I should erase them from your code.”

You let your eyes flicker to him before looking back to your laptop. “Thank you, JARVIS, for keeping this idiot safe.”

“It’s my pleasure, Ms. Y/N.”

Tony let out a rather undignified whine. “Yeah, yeah, it’s all peachy. Except I’m still bored here. Pay attention to me.”

You pulled your eyes away from your work and let them meet his as best they could for how close his face was to yours. It resulted in an awkward and uncomfortable craning of your neck, so you gave up and turned back to your laptop.

“You’re a grown man, Tony; find something to do on your own. It’s your own fault I have to work right now anyway, pulling that stunt at the party last night. I swear, accepting the job of being your publicist is the worst decision I’ve ever made.”

“It got you a boyfriend,” he muttered into your shoulder. “That’s not so bad.”

“It’s also not so great at the moment!” You let your full exasperation bleed into your voice. “Seriously, Tony, this isn’t something I can put off, and you’re just making it take longer! Come back in an hour, but until then find something to keep yourself occupied like the adult you’re supposed to be.”

With a huff, Tony pushed himself off the couch and sulked off towards his lab. He’d known you long enough to not take your frustration personally, although the first time you’d gotten mad after the two of you had started dating, he’d been sure you were breaking up with him. After two years, however, your refusal to give up on him no matter how angry you got when he pulled stunts like the (admittedly unfortunate but totally not his fault) one last night made him feel more secure in your relationship than he could remember feeling in any he’d been in before. That said, relational security was not going to fix his boredom.

“I suppose I do need to finish… Wait. JARVIS, if I wear a gas mask and safety suit can I go into my lab?”

“Once you are fully suited up, if there is no way the substance could reach you, then yes, protocol will allow me to let you back in.”

“Cool. The other project can wait, then. Where’s that stuff stored?”

“At the present, Sir, you keep all of your safety gear in your lab.”

Tony groaned. “Okay, not the smartest move on my part to not have backups stored elsewhere. He paused and perked up. “What if I wore my suit? I’ve got a few models that aren’t in the lab, and one of them has a full air filtration system included that doesn’t pull in outside air.”

“That would be an acceptable substitute for standard safety gear and arguably more effective.”

“Of course it’s more effective; I built it. Send it here, please.” Once it arrived he stepped into the suit and slipped into the lab.

“Okay,” the genius said, more to himself than to JARVIS, “let’s get this thing contained.” It took a few minutes – the gauntlets weren’t made for delicate work, after all – but he eventually got the object enclosed in a clear box with a tube pumping the smoke directly into the hazmat ventilation system, allowing him to take the suit off and step into his open lab.

“JARVIS, what’s the composition of the smoke stuff?”

“According to preliminary analysis of my scans, it appears to be an alien compound of unknown elements in gaseous form. Would you like to take a sample for a more detailed analysis?”

“Yeah, I’ll get to that in a moment. What about the box itself?”

“It appears to be just that: a box. Enough of the compound has come out of it that it either produces it internally or, as seems more likely based on the fact it didn’t release anything until it was here, is reacting to something in its surroundings. Perhaps a chemical response to something in the lab?”

“If that’s what’s causing it, it should stop soon now that it’s contained.”

“That would be a logical assumption, provided the reactant is not present in its new enclosure.”

“All right.” Tony rubbed his hands together and headed for the safety gear he was going to get an extra set of to keep outside the lab. This would require more dexterity than his gauntlets would allow. “I’ll get suited up and take a sample. You’ve got all of that stuff in a biohazard containment tank?”

“Yes, Sir. I won’t dispose of it unless it can be done safely.”

Tony slipped into a hazmat suit and grabbed a couple of vials with stoppers before heading into the side room where the containment tank with the alien compound was located. He filled both vials from the tank, flipping on the tank’s suction to recapture the smoke that had escaped in the process.

“Damn it,” he muttered as one of the vials slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor. He reached to pick up the stopper from the mess – BUTTERFINGERS was developing a rather impressive collection of random spare parts that the inventor was guilty of encouraging – when a piece of glass caught the suit and ripped it open.

“JARVIS,” he said, instantly realizing something was wrong, “I don’t feel so good…”

The last thing he registered before blacking out was the armor scooping him up and carrying him out of there.

\----------

You shut your laptop with a sigh, glad to finally have the damage under control. You were about to get up to check on Tony and definitely apologize for getting mad (because really, your boyfriend may not have been totally innocent but the whole thing had been _mostly_ Justin Hammer’s fault, even if Tony’d taken the fall) when JARVIS caught your attention.

“Excuse me, Ms. Y/N; I hate to alarm you, but something has happened to Sir. I’ve already contacted the Avengers. It will take them a few hours to get here from New York, but they are on their way.”

If the Avengers had already been contacted, this was not a “missed a step on the stairs” type event. At least JARVIS hadn’t said he’d called an ambulance.

“What happened, JARVIS?” you asked, standing and heading towards the stairs.

“Sir was in his lab’s biohazard containment room when his hazmat suit was breached. The alien compound seems to have reverted him to a much younger age.”

You froze mid-step. “How much younger?”

“Sir appears to be around five years old.”

\----------

You peeked through the windowed wall of the lab to see a tiny, naked, squirming brunet sitting on one of Tony’s workbenches. He was holding an oxygen mask to his face and being guarded by one of the suits.

“Tony?” you called softly, entering the room.

He lowered the mask and cocked his head. “That’s me. Who are you?”

“My name’s Y/N,” you told him, coming over and standing in front of him.

This was awkward. Your boyfriend was a small child. What were you supposed to do in this situation?

“The voice in the ceiling told me I passed out and someone would be coming to take care of me because mom and dad aren’t here. Is that you?”

“Yes, for now. There’s a group of people who are coming to figure out why you passed out” (I mean, really, how were you supposed to explain this to a five-year-old, even if he can build a circuit board?) “and they’ll be here in a few hours. I’m going to take care of you until then.”

“Cool,” little Tony said, standing on the table and launching himself into your arms. “I’m hungry. Can I have spaghetti?”

“Sure sweetie,” you agreed as you barely managed to not drop your boyfriend when you caught him. “Let’s go upstairs and I’ll make you some.”

\----------

Five-year-old Tony _loved_ spaghetti. He also was significantly messier than adult Tony when eating; good thing he didn’t have any clothes to get dirty. You ran him a bath as soon as lunch was over and let him play with your StarkPad in the tub – hurray for Tony’s love of waterproofing his tech! – while you figured some stuff out, namely what he was going to wear when he was dry again. Fortunately JARVIS was already on it; clothing in Tony’s current size was delivered while you were pouring through your closet for something that would stay on his child-sized body.

Turns out, JARVIS had a good sense of what child Tony would like, not just what would fit him. Tony dug through the bags excitedly, choosing a t-rex shirt, jeans, and underwear with tiny beakers on them. You tried to get him to wear socks, but he preferred to run around barefoot and he was just as stubborn when fun-sized as when full-sized.

Keeping him occupied after getting him dressed was significantly easier. You took him back to the lab and after making sure all his current projects were put away (and the biohazard room locked) let him go ham, building whatever he wanted. DUM-E was his new best friend in just a few minutes, bringing him whatever tool he asked for. Tony couldn’t stop giggling at the bot’s antics, and by the time the team showed up there was a smaller silver version of DUM-E, whose name scrawled in baby Tony writing across his arm proudly declared him to be “MIN-E”, following both Tony and the larger bot around.

You stood outside the lab with Steve, Bruce, and Natasha, watching your juniorized boyfriend playing with his robotic friends.

“So… that’s what happened, as far as I can gather from what JARVIS told me and the inconvenient camera angles.”

“I can confirm Ms. Y/N is correct. That is what happened to Sir.”

“Okay,” Bruce rubbed a hand over his face. “So, I’m gonna need to study some of this compound to see if I can reverse its effects.”

“We can’t send you in for a sample,” Steve said with a frown. “If you wind up age-regressed too, we won’t have anyone left to work on this.”

Nat smirked. “Send Clint. He’ll be the most harmless as a kid out of any of us if anything happens to him.”

“If I may interrupt,” JARVIS cut in, “Sir was able to fill one tube with the compound before his accident. It was in the containment room; I sent one of the suits to retrieve it and it is waiting for Doctor Banner in his lab.”

“Right, I’ll get right on that, and I’ll call Helen Cho for backup.” Bruce made his escape to the bio lab Tony had built for him when rebuilding his Malibu residence.

“So, until Doctor Banner has the cure…” Steve trailed off, eyes returning to the child playing fetch with DUM-E as MIN-E chased the bigger and faster bot around.

“Yeah, I know,” you said softly. “He’s still Tony. He still has so much curiosity and energy, but he’s more innocent, too, like the world hasn’t broken him yet.”

“In his mind it hasn’t,” Natasha sighed, then added, “He seems okay. If he’s stuck as a kid for a little while it’ll be hard for the rest of us, but he’ll be alright.”

You nodded. “It’s more than we could have hoped for, I suppose.”

The small conference was interrupted by a smaller head poking out of the lab.

“Y/N, Y/N, come see what I taught MIN-E to do!”

“I’m coming, sweetie. Just give me a minute,” you smiled at the boy. Glancing at Steve and Nat, you started toward the lab. “If you guys think of anything that would make this easier, I’d appreciate it. I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle babysitting duties this whole time.”

“I’m sure Clint won’t mind taking a turn later.”

Steve gave Natasha a skeptical look. “You’re really good at volunteering Clint for stuff he doesn’t know about.”

She shrugged and tossed her head. “What can I say? It’s one of my special talents.”

\----------

“‘Now they rode away amid songs of farewell and good speed, with their hearts ready for more adventure, and with a knowledge of the road they must follow over the Misty Mountains to the land beyond.’” You closed _The Hobbit_ and set it aside before reaching to run your fingers through Tony’s hair. “And now it’s time for _you_ to _sleep_.”

“Aw, just one more chapter, please?” the boy pled with you. “I’ll go to sleep after that!”

You couldn’t help but laugh at how hopeful he looked. “You said that before I read the last one. Nope, mister, it’s time for you to get some sleep. You’ve got a big day tomorrow; you’ll be hanging out with Clint and Steve while I’m at work.”

The little Tony snuggled up against you in your big bed that seemed even larger than usual with a child instead of another adult pressed against you. “Do you really have to go to work?”

“Yes,” you told him. “That’s what being an adult is like.”

“Sounds boring.” He paused. “But Clint and Steve are adults. Don’t they have to work?”

“Clint and Steve have a different job than I do,” you said, settling under the covers and wrapping your arms around him. “It lets them spend the day with you while I’m gone. I won’t be away all day, though. I’ll only be gone a few hours, and then I’ll do the rest of my work on my laptop while hanging out with you.”

Tony sighed as his eyes started drooping. “Okay. Y/N?”

“Yes, Tony?”

“Thanks for letting me have a sleepover with you. I’ve never had a sleepover before.”

“It’s my pleasure, Tony,” you smiled at the little boy. “My room is your room, as long as you want it.”

“Cool,” he mumbled as he drifted off. “If Mama and Howard let me, I’mma stay with you forever.”

You dropped a kiss to the top of his head as he snuggled in closer. “I’d like that very much, Tony,” you whispered. “I really would.

\----------

“_Steve_,” the archer whispered, panic entirely undisguised, “I can’t find Tony!”

“_What?_” The soldier’s reply was significantly louder. “What do you _mean_, you _can’t find Tony?_”

Clint rolled his eyes and almost dropped his phone as he peeked around a corner in the vents. “I thought the statement was rather self-explanatory. I mean that Tony is somewhere, and I don’t know where that somewhere is.”

“You had one job,” Steve complained as he tossed his towel over his shoulder and made for the gym exit. “I just wanted an hour to work out. All you had to do was keep him occupied and in your sight.”

“To be fair, he’s probably occupied.”

“That’s not comforting.”

“How bad could it be?”

“Adult Tony makes his decisions with a fully-developed frontal lobe. Kid Tony doesn’t have that.”

“Crap. We’ve gotta find him.”

Steve sighed and stepped into the common area. “Where was he when you last saw him?”

“We were taking a tour through the vents.”

“Clint!”

“It’s Tony! He gets bored easily. I thought I’d show him my nest.”

“Ugh.” The soldier pinched the bridge of his nose. “There’s gotta be an easier way to do this than crawling through every crevice in the house. JARVIS? Where is Tony?”

“Sir is safe, Captain, and currently not causing any trouble. I’m afraid I can’t say any more than that.”

That was not what Steve was hoping to hear. “Why not?”

“Because Sir may be younger than normal, but he is still my system administrator and as such, as long as he is not in any danger I must follow his instructions not to spoil the surprise.”

That was _definitely_ not what Steve was hoping to hear. “Clint,” he barked, bringing his phone back to his ear and taking off through the house, head on a swivel, “find him before he can do anything crazy.”

\----------

The house was eerily calm when you returned home after finishing everything you needed to be on scene at SI headquarters to complete. It had never been so quiet, not even when Tony was on an engineering binge. At least then you could hear the muffled sound of bass vibrating the walls; this was total silence despite the space not feeling empty.

“JARVIS?” You called out to the AI as you pulled off your jacket. “Where is everyone?”

“Misters Barton and Rogers are searching for Sir. Sir is waiting for you in the library.”

_Uh huh._ “Why is Tony in the library, and why are Clint and Steve looking for him?”

“Sir slipped away from them two hours ago and forbade me from telling them where he was; as his safety was not at risk, I had to follow his order. He is in the library because that is where his project was most easily completed.”

You sighed and hung your coat in the closet by the door. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this… New protocol: when Tony is de-aged to any age below eighteen, his location may not be hidden from any Avenger who requests it, no matter what his reason for hiding, barring circumstances where being found would put him in more danger than staying hidden. You have discretion when it comes to determining circumstances. Admin authority Y/N Y/LN, code three-five-seven-alpha-two-four.”

“Protocol accepted. Shall I inform Misters Barton and Rogers of Sir’s whereabouts?”

“No, let them worry a bit longer; serves them right for losing Tony in the first place. Only tell them if they ask again.”

“Of course, Ms. Y/L/N.” The note of approval in the AI’s voice made you smile as you headed toward the library – only to stumble backwards again as a small body flew through the door and latched onto you like an octopus.

“Y/N, Y/N, Y/N! Come see what I made for you!” Tony was talking almost too quickly for you to understand, dragging you into the library where a book lay open on his desk. “Clint was taking me through the vents to see something, I don’t remember what, but then I looked through the grate and saw the computer and the printer and I got super excited because they look like the ones in the lab but smaller! So I wanted to see if they could do the same kind of cool stuff, but when I got here there was this project saved that was only half finished, and it was titled “For Y/N” and it was dated tomorrow so I figured it was supposed to be done by then but no one had worked on in for a few days so I finished it.” He picked up the book and shoved it into your hands. “I don’t know most of the people in it, but Steve and Clint and even Miss Pepper and Miss Natasha are in some of the pictures.”

Your jaw dropped open in surprise as you studied the cover of the large photo album. “The First Two Years” was emblazoned across the front in a tasteful calligraphic font, a close-up picture of Tony kissing your cheek embossed below. As you opened it, a note in a familiar scrawl on the inside of the cover caught your attention.

_My darling Y/N,_

_I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a handful. I have no idea why you said yes to Pepper’s job offer, but I’m so glad you did because it brought us together, and you are by far the best thing in my life._

_Loving you has been the most freeing thing I’ve ever done. You never hide yourself from me; you let me see your fear, your anger, your frustration. You also let me see your love, your patience, and your joy. No matter what goes on around me, I can always count on you to be honest and to love me no matter what stupid shit I get myself into._

_These have been the best two years of my life. Now here’s to the next twenty._

_Will you marry me?_

“Y/N? Why are you crying? Did I do something wrong?”

“Oh, no, love.” Tony’s distressed questions pulled you out of your head. “You did something very, very right. I’m crying because it’s perfect. I love it; thank you.” You pressed a kiss to the top of his head and hugged him close. “Shall we find a seat and look through it together?”

“Will you tell me who all the people are? It’s boring looking at pictures and not knowing who anyone is.”

“Of course. I’ll even tell you the story behind when each one was taken, if I can remember them.”

“JARVIS can help!” Tony exclaimed, pulling you towards the back of the immense library. “Right, JARVIS?”

“Indeed I can, Sir.”

Tony beamed up at you as he flopped onto a large leather couch. “Let’s do it, then. Some of the pictures looked like they should have some great stories.”

“Well,” you smiled, sitting next to him and opening the album to the first page of photos, “there’s only one way to find out.”

The two of you spent the rest of the afternoon looking through your day-early anniversary gift. In the back of your mind, you made a note to thoroughly reward your boyfriend – soon to be fiancé – for his thoughtfulness as soon as he was again an adult.

\----------

“JARVIS,” Clint moaned, “_please _tell us where Tony is?”

“Sir is in the library with Ms. Y/L/N.”

Steve froze and narrowed his eyes. “That was too easy. Why couldn’t you tell us where he was sooner?”

“Ms. Y/L/N has only recently updated my protocols to allow me to override Sir’s request for secrecy.”

Clint and Steve locked eyes for a long moment before the soldier finally spoke.

“Do we wanna risk her wrath by checking on them, or should we make ourselves scarce?”

“I personally like living.”

“Good point. JARVIS, we’re heading out. Call us if either of them need anything.”

“Very well, Captain. And may I say, wise choice.”

\----------

It was two weeks before Bruce and Helen found a cure – two weeks of medical tests interspersed with ice cream and robots – and by the time they found it little Tony had all the Avengers wrapped around his little finger. He would laugh and ask questions and get into trouble but get right back out of it with his big grin and puppy eyes.

“Are you sure we have to turn him back?” Clint asked, protesting when Natasha elbowed him.

“Yes, Clint,” Steve gave him the Captain America Look of Disappointment™, “we have to turn him back. We’re not leaving Tony as a child forever.”

“He’s more fun when he’s a kid though,” the archer complained. “He actually thinks I’m cool.”

Bruce passed you a small canister with a breathing mask on the end. “Since he inhaled the original compound and hasn’t been a fan of needles, we made the cure something he has to inhale as well. Just fit the mask over his mouth and depress the button for one second. Make sure he’s sitting down when he breathes it in, though; he’ll probably black out for a moment like he did the first time.”

You nodded and took the canister into the lab, where Tony was engaging in his favorite activity – playing with the bots. The rest of the team watched from the other side of the glass.

“Hey, Tony,” you called, motioning the boy over. “I need you to sit next to me on the couch, okay? Bruce figured out why you passed out a couple weeks ago, and this will make you better. You just have to breathe it in.”

“Okay,” he piped cheerfully, launching himself onto seat next to you. “But first you have to answer a question. Can I marry you when I grow up?”

Your heart melted a little and you hoped one day you and he would have a little boy just like this. “I’d like that very much, Tony.”

“Cool.” He flashed you a cheeky grin, and then he was reaching for the canister. While you held the mask over his nose and mouth he pressed the button, and in just over the time it took to blink, you had an unconscious yet fully-grown Tony next to you again.

\----------

“You’re telling me I lost two weeks of my life?” Tony asked as Bruce gave him a thorough physical.

“Not lost it, per say,” Banner explained, “you were just…different.”

Tony narrowed his eyes at the soldier. “Different how?”

“Smaller,” Clint piped up, “and much cuter. You were five.”

Your boyfriend’s eyes shot to yours and you nodded. “I can confirm the whole thing, except for the cuter part. You’re still cute.”

Clint pantomimed gagging as Natasha dragged him and Steve out of the room. Bruce followed them as soon as he finished his examination.

“You’re back to normal now,” he told Tony on his way out the door. “But stay away from that smoke.”

“Speaking of,” you asked, “JARVIS?”

“I have sealed all smoke in a solid drum it cannot escape,” the AI informed you both, “and the box is sealed up as well.”

Tony leaned back on the couch and you let him pull you into his arms.

“So…I guess having a tiny Tony running around probably put you off kids forever.” The slight edge of sadness to his voice surprised you and made you smile.

“I don’t know,” you said, snuggling into his chest, “it was kind of nice. Not as nice as this, but I think I’d enjoy getting to have both. Only if you wanted to, though.”

“If I wanted to?” Tony asked, pulling back and looking at you in amazement. “You’d be willing to commit to that with me? I’d be a terrible father.”

“No,” you told him firmly, “you _had_ a terrible father. That doesn’t mean you’ll _be_ one. If anything, it means you have a better grasp on what not to do than most people do when they start parenthood.”

Tony pulled you back in, resting his chin on your head and running his hands up and down your arm.

“I guess I wouldn’t mind giving it a shot if you were the one who did it with me.”

“Is that an invitation?” you asked slyly, sliding your hand up along his thigh. “It was a long two weeks, you know.”

His pupils blew wide and he scooped you all the way into his arms, standing and heading for the stairs.

“Well, it certainly is now.”

\----------

“Damn it!” Tony bolted upright. The adrenaline that accompanied his sudden realization brought tension back into his body and banished the glow in which you’d both been basking. “If I was a kid for two weeks, then I missed our anniversary. Shit! I’m such a terrible boyfriend. I never should have gone near that thing, not when something so important was coming up –”

“Hey!” you interrupted sharply, the comforter falling down around your waist as you sat up and wrapped your arms around his shoulders, “don’t you dare talk like that about the man I love. And for the record,” you smiled and nipped at his ear before reaching to pull something from your nightstand drawer, “you didn’t forget. Even as a little boy you managed to finish your gift and get it to me, although it was a day early since five-year-old Tony didn’t exactly know the day’s significance.”

Tony’s eyes grew wide as you placed the completed album in his lap. “I finished it? As a kid?” He flipped through the pages, the corner of his mouth ticking up. “Huh… I even got everything in the right order. So, did you…?”

“Read the note you wrote in the front? Yes.”

“Yes you read it, or –”

“Oh my gosh, you pedantic moron!” you laughed as Tony smirked at you and launched a tickle attack. “Yes, I read it, and yes, I will marry you. Unless you don’t stop tickling me; then I might change my mind.”

He looked at you from where he had fallen, draped across your chest. With a soft smile, he brushed your hair out of your face and leaned down to kiss your forehead. “I love you.”

The awe and reverence in his eyes was enough to bring tears to yours. “I love you, too.”

\----------

**Epilogue: Six Years Later**

“TJ! Young man, you get back here right now or I’ll tell Uncle Clint you two can’t have your play date later!”

Anthony Edward Stark Junior poked his head out from under your bed, brown eyes wide and lower lip trembling. “Bu’ no wan’ nap. No’ sweepy.” He punctuated his declaration with a large yawn.

“I’m sure you aren’t, baby,” you said with a smile, “but if you want to go out with Uncle Clint later, you have to at least try to sleep.”

The three-year-old crawled out from under your bed and reached for you to pick him up. “Wan’ be big like Mia. No wan’ haf take nap.”

As if summoned by her name, five-year-old Maria Virginia Stark skipped into the room. “Mommy, Daddy’s about to blow something up again,” she informed you cheerily.

You sighed and shifted TJ to your other hip. “Thank you, dear. I’ll go get him once I’ve put your brother down. Please stay away from the lab until JARVIS tells you it’s safe.”

“Okay,” she said, “I have to finish my special project anyway. Don’t come into my room; I don’t want you to see.”

Maria had been working on her “special project” for almost a week now. Considering how much she took after her father, you wouldn’t be surprised if she eventually emerged from her room with her own fully-coded AI.

“All right, I won’t. And I’ll make sure your Daddy doesn’t either.”

By the time you got TJ down and asleep, JARVIS had informed you that, “Sir caused a minor explosion which caused no damage to himself or anything of structural importance.” You rolled your eyes, thanked him, and headed for the lab, pausing on the way to tuck a surprise in your pocket.

“I swear, Tony,” you said as you opened the lab’s door and found your smoke-blackened husband jumping around his holographic projections with child-like excitement, “with your antics down here it’s like having four children in this house instead of three.”

“We only have two,” the engineer replied, before freezing in the middle of his calculations. “Wait… we do only have three, right? I’m not forgetting a kid? Please tell me I’m not forgetting a kid.”

“Hard to forget what you didn’t know about.” You smiled and pulled out the positive test. “So please don’t get yourself blown up? I know we’d be financially secure and everything, but I only have two hands, so I’d rather not –”

You were cut off by Tony’s whoop of joy as he picked you up and swung you in a circle. “How far along are you?”

“About two months, I think. I have an appointment tomorrow with the doctor to confirm.”

“Wow.” He leaned in and kissed you, softly and sweetly. “Three kids, Y/N. How did we get so lucky?”

“Well, I don’t know about you,” you said with a smirk, “but I accepted this publicist job for a crazy billionaire who –”

This time, Tony cut you off with another kiss.


End file.
